Today was a fairly busy day for Jedi, because Jedi is a busy, busy boy right now... His energy level the last few days has been absolutely through the roof, which I find a little amazing considering how much action he's had lately. If you think about what he's done in the last week, Wednesday and Thursday were low-key outings (the "picture park" and the horse show), but Friday he swam and played frisbee, Saturday he did a ton at and after the trial (too much, really), and yesterday, while not filled with lots of running, still provided a ton of mental stimulation. I know I was certainly pooped coming off the trial weekend, but not Jedi! I had every intention of sleeping in as late as possible since I was working from home, but noises from out in the living room prompted me out of bed around 6:00. Jedi pulled another paper bag out of their hidy-hole next to the fridge and was starting to tear it up. I picked it up and went back to bed until 8:00. Jedi was under the bed at that point, but at least he wasn't tearing anything up.
We finally saw progress on our cik/cap work today! Jedi can now do full turns to the left! We did this for both breakfast and lunch today. During the breakfast session I decided to hold out until I got that one extra step that would take him past me. Oh the frustration that ensued! Jedi pitched a holy fit. He barked. He laid down and barked some more. He started to chew on the box that was nearby. He checked out a couple of times to go sniff things. But then he thought about it for a moment and the light bulb finally came on. The lunch session went much better with almost no frustration barking. The full turns to the left are definitely looking very purposeful and Jedi understands what he's supposed to do there now (so I should probably figure out what I'm calling this). The turns to the right are progressing to the point where he's starting to cross in front of my body, so he'll get there. This is a lesson we learned with pivoting -- don't give up and one day it will just show up out of the blue.
We had a funny moment that made me question Jedi's intelligence for a bit, since so far I've pretty much figured he was the smartest dog ever -- I kicked the dogs outside while I vacuumed because I put down some of that carpet powder. Jedi was not happy that the dog door was locked and barked in protest for a bit as he tried to get the door to push open. By the time I finished he was over it and laying nicely on the deck, but apparently he had decided that the dog door was broken and no longer worked. When I removed the door lock (it's a solid piece that slides in) and called him to come in he stood up and put his feet on the glass, above the dog door. Luke came in the dog door and Jedi tried again with his feet too high. Two more dogs had to come through the door before he finally followed through while the door was open for them. Thankfully the effects were not long-lasting and he managed to figure out the dog door again quickly.
My dad came by for a visit before lunch. We had to go pick up my lawn mower, but he was a bit early so he hung out with the dogs while I wrapped up what I was doing for work. Jedi was thrilled to get to visit with "grandpa" while I did boring work stuff. He went in the crate for a bit while we ran to get the mower and grab lunch, and then he got his lunch when I got back. Jedi is doing great with his crate criteria of waiting until released when I open the door, even in those exciting times when I first get home. Patting myself on the back, I'm doing a pretty good job of maintaining that criteria, too! The van seems to be the hardest for Jedi, so that's where I need to be on top of things and ready to close the door if he breaks.
I'm still hesitant to do loads of mindless fetching after Jedi came off the couch with a bit of a hitch Saturday night (note, haven't seen anything since then), so we did not do any running this afternoon. With as full of it as he was all day, I didn't really want to take Jedi into class tonight with THAT much energy, so I decided to pack up Jedi and Secret and go for a quick swim over at Fishermen's Park again. There were more people at the park this afternoon, but the boat launch area was free. I parked right next to it and just let the dogs out -- Jedi made a beeline to the water again, but had to wait while I chased down Secret who was trailing lord knows what scent. Once I got her attention we were good to go and they both got in a good solid 10 minutes of good solid swimming. The only issue I'm really having with Jedi is that he's getting into the habit of coming nearly to shore and then turning around to stare at Secret while she comes in the rest of the way (since generally I throw her toy out further than Jedi's). She doesn't like this at all, which causes her to swim way off to the side to avoid him. If I walk up to grab Jedi's toy and throw it for him he'll go out again, but his default is to stare right now and we'll work to break that one. I just find this interesting since he doesn't exhibit this behavior at all with balls or frisbees.
We were home for about an hour before we had to leave for class and Jedi was just starting to go down for a nap when we left. Jedi did well at puppy class tonight. He's playing predominantly with the (female) doodle puppy, but he does spend time with the others as well. We had a freak thing happen tonight that is the perfect example of why it's not good to have dogs play unsupervised while wearing collars or harnesses. The doodle puppy somehow got her hind leg wrapped through the chest loop of Jedi's harness while they were playing. She was under him and started squealing, but when I went to separate them I couldn't lift Jedi off of her. When I realized how she was trapped I had a moment of internal panic. Blessedly both puppies were amazing and stayed completely still while I tried to get her out. Eventually I realized I could just unsnap Jedi's harness to let it fall off him and then move him out of the way while I untrapped the puppy's leg. Just one of those freak things.
Jedi behaved really well in class tonight. The most impressive part was when I was working with another puppy and its owner to get a down. Jedi had to sit nicely off to the side while I worked with the other puppy. He needed a couple of reminders not to come up in my space, but considering I was handing out hot dogs to another puppy I think he did really well. I'd love for him to be able to hold his spot while other dogs work without having to be in a crate, so this is something we'll continue to work towards. Jedi gave a good demo on how to teach a roll over, which we haven't worked on for weeks. He got to practice his heel position while the rest of the class worked on various leash skills, and there was fairly minimal screaming during the restrained recall portion at the end of class.
There was a basic manners class that was supposed to be starting up tonight, but only one person showed up (we knew it was a small class, but....). As it turns out, that person and the dog are well beyond the skill set of the basics class, but the dog is reactive and needs to learn to work around other people and dogs. For that reason it was kind of a bummer that nobody else showed up, but we were able to work on things more specific to her dog. Unfortunately Jedi was not particularly helpful in this scenario. It's becoming obvious between this and the last reactive dog we had in class that Jedi does not do well *at all* with this type of dog. The dog tonight was not a barker, but he stares. He stares anxiously. This look, this energy, something about this type of dog sets Jedi off and not in a good way. In that sense, I was working my dog tonight as much as the student was working her own. If I kept Jedi's focus on me he was fine, but if he was allowed to look at the other dog, and that dog happened to be looking at him, he was going to lose it. As a result, Jedi went through about three hot dogs tonight. We went for a short walk around the neighborhood to end the night and both of the dogs did just perfect. But when we got back inside it was right back to pumping him with hot dogs (toys didn't work because that got the other dog too worked up). The good news is that I can redirect this reactive behavior quite easily, but I'd rather it didn't exist and we'll keep working on it.
Jedi finished his dinner at class tonight. Because of this and because of those 3 hot dogs he consumed, he got a big bowl of pumpkin when the other dogs got fed their dinner tonight. So many hot dogs....
Today was a fairly busy day for Jedi, because Jedi is a busy, busy boy right now... His energy level the last few days has been absolutely through the roof, which I find a little amazing considering how much action he's had lately. If you think about what he's done in the last week, Wednesday and Thursday were low-key outings (the "picture park" and the horse show), but Friday he swam and played frisbee, Saturday he did a ton at and after the trial (too much, really), and yesterday, while not filled with lots of running, still provided a ton of mental stimulation. I know I was certainly pooped coming off the trial weekend, but not Jedi! I had every intention of sleeping in as late as possible since I was working from home, but noises from out in the living room prompted me out of bed around 6:00. Jedi pulled another paper bag out of their hidy-hole next to the fridge and was starting to tear it up. I picked it up and went back to bed until 8:00. Jedi was under the bed at that point, but at least he wasn't tearing anything up.
We finally saw progress on our cik/cap work today! Jedi can now do full turns to the left! We did this for both breakfast and lunch today. During the breakfast session I decided to hold out until I got that one extra step that would take him past me. Oh the frustration that ensued! Jedi pitched a holy fit. He barked. He laid down and barked some more. He started to chew on the box that was nearby. He checked out a couple of times to go sniff things. But then he thought about it for a moment and the light bulb finally came on. The lunch session went much better with almost no frustration barking. The full turns to the left are definitely looking very purposeful and Jedi understands what he's supposed to do there now (so I should probably figure out what I'm calling this). The turns to the right are progressing to the point where he's starting to cross in front of my body, so he'll get there. This is a lesson we learned with pivoting -- don't give up and one day it will just show up out of the blue.
We had a funny moment that made me question Jedi's intelligence for a bit, since so far I've pretty much figured he was the smartest dog ever -- I kicked the dogs outside while I vacuumed because I put down some of that carpet powder. Jedi was not happy that the dog door was locked and barked in protest for a bit as he tried to get the door to push open. By the time I finished he was over it and laying nicely on the deck, but apparently he had decided that the dog door was broken and no longer worked. When I removed the door lock (it's a solid piece that slides in) and called him to come in he stood up and put his feet on the glass, above the dog door. Luke came in the dog door and Jedi tried again with his feet too high. Two more dogs had to come through the door before he finally followed through while the door was open for them. Thankfully the effects were not long-lasting and he managed to figure out the dog door again quickly.
My dad came by for a visit before lunch. We had to go pick up my lawn mower, but he was a bit early so he hung out with the dogs while I wrapped up what I was doing for work. Jedi was thrilled to get to visit with "grandpa" while I did boring work stuff. He went in the crate for a bit while we ran to get the mower and grab lunch, and then he got his lunch when I got back. Jedi is doing great with his crate criteria of waiting until released when I open the door, even in those exciting times when I first get home. Patting myself on the back, I'm doing a pretty good job of maintaining that criteria, too! The van seems to be the hardest for Jedi, so that's where I need to be on top of things and ready to close the door if he breaks.
I'm still hesitant to do loads of mindless fetching after Jedi came off the couch with a bit of a hitch Saturday night (note, haven't seen anything since then), so we did not do any running this afternoon. With as full of it as he was all day, I didn't really want to take Jedi into class tonight with THAT much energy, so I decided to pack up Jedi and Secret and go for a quick swim over at Fishermen's Park again. There were more people at the park this afternoon, but the boat launch area was free. I parked right next to it and just let the dogs out -- Jedi made a beeline to the water again, but had to wait while I chased down Secret who was trailing lord knows what scent. Once I got her attention we were good to go and they both got in a good solid 10 minutes of good solid swimming. The only issue I'm really having with Jedi is that he's getting into the habit of coming nearly to shore and then turning around to stare at Secret while she comes in the rest of the way (since generally I throw her toy out further than Jedi's). She doesn't like this at all, which causes her to swim way off to the side to avoid him. If I walk up to grab Jedi's toy and throw it for him he'll go out again, but his default is to stare right now and we'll work to break that one. I just find this interesting since he doesn't exhibit this behavior at all with balls or frisbees.
We were home for about an hour before we had to leave for class and Jedi was just starting to go down for a nap when we left. Jedi did well at puppy class tonight. He's playing predominantly with the (female) doodle puppy, but he does spend time with the others as well. We had a freak thing happen tonight that is the perfect example of why it's not good to have dogs play unsupervised while wearing collars or harnesses. The doodle puppy somehow got her hind leg wrapped through the chest loop of Jedi's harness while they were playing. She was under him and started squealing, but when I went to separate them I couldn't lift Jedi off of her. When I realized how she was trapped I had a moment of internal panic. Blessedly both puppies were amazing and stayed completely still while I tried to get her out. Eventually I realized I could just unsnap Jedi's harness to let it fall off him and then move him out of the way while I untrapped the puppy's leg. Just one of those freak things.
Jedi behaved really well in class tonight. The most impressive part was when I was working with another puppy and its owner to get a down. Jedi had to sit nicely off to the side while I worked with the other puppy. He needed a couple of reminders not to come up in my space, but considering I was handing out hot dogs to another puppy I think he did really well. I'd love for him to be able to hold his spot while other dogs work without having to be in a crate, so this is something we'll continue to work towards. Jedi gave a good demo on how to teach a roll over, which we haven't worked on for weeks. He got to practice his heel position while the rest of the class worked on various leash skills, and there was fairly minimal screaming during the restrained recall portion at the end of class.
There was a basic manners class that was supposed to be starting up tonight, but only one person showed up (we knew it was a small class, but....). As it turns out, that person and the dog are well beyond the skill set of the basics class, but the dog is reactive and needs to learn to work around other people and dogs. For that reason it was kind of a bummer that nobody else showed up, but we were able to work on things more specific to her dog. Unfortunately Jedi was not particularly helpful in this scenario. It's becoming obvious between this and the last reactive dog we had in class that Jedi does not do well *at all* with this type of dog. The dog tonight was not a barker, but he stares. He stares anxiously. This look, this energy, something about this type of dog sets Jedi off and not in a good way. In that sense, I was working my dog tonight as much as the student was working her own. If I kept Jedi's focus on me he was fine, but if he was allowed to look at the other dog, and that dog happened to be looking at him, he was going to lose it. As a result, Jedi went through about three hot dogs tonight. We went for a short walk around the neighborhood to end the night and both of the dogs did just perfect. But when we got back inside it was right back to pumping him with hot dogs (toys didn't work because that got the other dog too worked up). The good news is that I can redirect this reactive behavior quite easily, but I'd rather it didn't exist and we'll keep working on it.
Jedi finished his dinner at class tonight. Because of this and because of those 3 hot dogs he consumed, he got a big bowl of pumpkin when the other dogs got fed their dinner tonight. So many hot dogs....
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